


A Wish for Wings

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: - Bug Setting, Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Bug AU, Bugs, Crack Treated Seriously, Crushes, Cute, Don't Even Think About It, Ending Bingo On a High Note, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, More Like if IM1 Were A Bug's Life, Not a Bee Movie AU, Pining, Steve is a Bee, Tony is a Caterpillar, and they're pining like whoa, but also bugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 13:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16811200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: Tony wanted Steve, and Tony wanted to fly. He sighed. He'd never have either.





	A Wish for Wings

**Author's Note:**

> I blame the MCU discord server for this, among other things. This is for my Happy Steve Bingo square "Hidden Magical Powers" which I played fast and loose with a bit but what can do. It's my last fill and this story has been waiting to be written since last Cap-IM bingo.
> 
> **IMPORTANT NOTE:** No Nature Fact™ was harmed or even consulted in the creating of this bizarre fic. This fic is a Nature Fact™ free zone and any similarities to any Nature Fact™ is merely coincidence. 
> 
> Thanks to summerpipedream for a super speedy beta! And the rest of the server for cheering me on for this and the rest of my bingo blackout! Love you guys <3
> 
> (But if you call it a Bee Movie AU one more time, I will come for you ((yes I mean you, rise - and pear)))
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Tony inched along a wide branch, a glimpse of leafy green in the distance drawing him out. When he felt the smooth surface of the leaf under his feet, he rippled with pleasure. This was his favourite kind of leaf - two tone with lots of moisture trapped in each bite. He nibbled along the edge until he found a good place to start then bit in. The leaf broke easily in his jaws, juice running over his chin. 

"Mmm." Tony hoped no one else would find him here. He liked the privacy of eating on his own, and he wasn't inclined to share anyway. 

But it wasn't long before a loud buzzing filled the air. Tony shrunk back against the leaf, hoping he'd blend in well enough to hide, but it became clear soon enough that the noise wasn't anything dangerous - except maybe to Tony's heart.

Steve.

Every morning, Steve and the rest of his winged pollinator unit cut a swathe through the forest, diving into the flowers that hung from the vines around Tony's tree. They collected as much pollen as they could before disappearing again. Tony didn't want to admit it to himself, but the reason he kept coming back to this branch for breakfast every morning had less to do with the succulent leaves and more to do with the entertainment.

The unit curved into view, Steve's wings catching the morning light. They were so beautiful - the gossamer nearly invisible until he banked just right and they exploded with light like the glinting of the stars at night. Tony knew he didn't have a chance with a bug like Steve - a harvester and a flier - but when Tony closed his eyes at night, curled up in the hollow of the tree he lived in, all he saw was black and yellow. Besides, with his parents lost when he was still an egg, and now Jarvis gone too, there wasn't much of anyone to worry about how he was spending his time, yearning after something he couldn't have.

Tony took another distracted bite, watching Steve out of the corner of his eye. He dove and spun with the rest of his unit, cutting gracefully through the air. A twisted kind of jealousy reared up in Tony's heart: the urge to be him mixed with the urge to be with him. 

Tony wanted Steve, and Tony wanted to fly. He sighed. He'd never have either.

**

Bucky broke rank and tilted until he plowed into Steve, laughing when Steve stuttered in the air. Steve scowled at him, righting himself. "What was that for?"

"Your wingless buddy is watching again," Bucky teased, and Steve resisted the urge to look.

"Shut up." Steve wondered if Tony's eyes were on him. He thought about swooping low to say hi to the little, green caterpillar, but he wussed out when the rest of his unit rose up, taking to the flowers. Steve crawled into a large, white blossom then peeked out over a petal. Tony was sitting on a leaf far below, nibbling his way along the edge. 

Tony was so gorgeous. Each segment of his body was topped with a lovely white dot, like a flower. Steve was filled with the urge to fly close and see if he smelled as just as sweet.

Sam's fuzzy butt poked out of the flower next to Steve's. "You should ask him out. Take him to Sunset Ridge."

Steve snorted. "What on earth would he want with me? Have you seen the amazing things he builds? I'm just a worker bee."

Sam shot him a look. "Don't sell yourself short, man."

"I don't think a bee and a caterpillar are destined to make it work, Sam. It's alright. I'll just keep admiring him from afar. I'm sure he'll find someone of his own soon enough. Just forget it, okay?"

Sam crawled out of his flower and poked his head into Steve's. Steve kicked his feet around the stamen, trying to make it look like he was working. "You're really broken up over him, aren't you?"

Steve shrugged. "Maybe a little…" He winced, waiting for Sam to berate him for falling in love with someone as out of reach as Tony. But instead, Sam reached in and patted Steve on one wing.

"Sorry, bud. I'll tell the others to back off, okay?"

"I -" Steve blinked up at him. "Okay… thank you."

"Any time you want to go for a fly and buzz it off, just let me know."

"I will." 

Sam droned off to another flower, and Steve set to work gathering the pollen from the bottom of his flower. He'd be alright. He'd get over Tony eventually.

**

Tony was sulking in his treehouse when Pepper and Rhodey landed on the branch outside and called out to him. He didn't reply but they shoved inside anyway, bickering between them. 

Rhodey clacked his jaws together. "Tony. Fury said you were supposed to deliver a new prototype for the web-based slingshot defense system, but you didn't show up."

Pepper lifted her red and black shell and fluttered her dark wings in irritation. "What's wrong with you, Tony? You've barely been around lately and now you're missing meetings with the spiders. Are you okay?"

Tony sighed. He tossed aside the ball of spider webbing he'd been working with - it wasn't doing what he wanted anyway. "I'm fine. Just a little down in the dumps lately." He sighed again, and it rippled all the way along his body.

"It's that Steve bee, isn't it?" Rhodey prompted. 

Tony shuffled in place then turned back to his collection of spider web-based defense systems, trying to look busy. "No…"

"Yes it is," Pepper said. "You need to either ask him out or move on, Tony. This pining isn't good for you."

Tony scuffed several of his feet in the soft bark floor of his treehome. "I know it's not. I'll get over it eventually. I can't ask him out - have you seen what he can do? He's amazing. If I ask him out he'll be all polite about saying no, but then his friends will laugh at me. If only I had wings," Tony muttered. "Then I could fly with them."

"I'll take you for a fly," Rhodey offered, buzzing up his short, dark beetle wings, but Tony shook his head. 

"Thanks, but it wouldn't be the same. I'm going to try and finish this project. Can you tell Fury I'll be by later with the prototype?"

"Sure, Tony." Pepper reached out and patted his back. 

Rhodey and Pepper left the tree, and Tony was alone with his inventions once again. He'd been lucky to get work helping defend the spiders, and he needed to focus if he was going to make his deadline. 

He was deep in his work when he felt a rumble deep in his body. Something strange was going on with his tree. He inched his way across the workshop and picked up the small fire bomb he'd built. Most of the insects in this acre of the forest were friends, or at least were kind to him, but there were plenty of dangers out there too: birds, bats. Tony tucked the firebomb between two of his back legs and walked over to the edge of his treehouse, peering down into the bark below. 

At first, Tony didn't see anything at all. Then the bark moved, and his heart sunk, fear flooding his veins.  _ Fire ants _ . Hundreds of them swarmed up the outside of his tree. They each bore the symbol of the rebel group the Ten Rings, who had been trying to get their hands on Tony's inventions for a long time.

There was nothing Tony could do. He was sorely outnumbered. He made sure the bomb was tucked away and hidden by curving his body around it. He shouted for Pepper and Rhodey, but they were probably too far away to hear, and in the next moment, the swarm reached his home. He was overrun.

**

Steve powered through the air, panic making his heart pound painfully. He'd left as soon as Pepper and Rhodey's terrified shouts had drawn his attention, but what if he was too slow? Too far behind? The fire ants had Tony and there was no telling what they might do to him. He hadn't thought about his unit, he'd just taken off, following the way they pointed. Few bugs were brave enough to go this far away from their homes, but Steve wasn't going to abandon Tony.

Steve flew around blindly in the woods, eyes fixed on the ground where the ants had last been seen, but there was no sign of them now, and hot tears threatened the corners of Steve's eyes. He was just about to turn back and start again in a new direction, when a rumbling boom echoed through the trees. 

Tony.

It had to be.

Steve angled himself towards the sound and flew as fast as he could, wings a blur. Before long, the ant's nest came into view. Well, what was left of it. A great gaping crater sullied the forest floor, dust and dead fire ants in an arc around it. Steve could see the furrows and valleys that were once a nest, but the top had been blown right off it, and any surviving ants had scattered. He recognized the pattern on some of the bodies as the horrible Ten Rings. But Tony - where was Tony?

Steve landed and shuffled through the dirt. Something caught his eye. It was bright, so shiny it didn't look like it belonged there, and it was smooth. He buzzed over to it and settled his antenna on top, scenting. The smell confirmed what his heart had already told him. This pod was Tony.

Tony… was gone.

Steve didn't know what kind of caterpillar Tony was - no one did, his parents had died when he was an egg, taken in by Jarvis - but it seemed he was the kind to make his own coffin. There was no warmth, no heartbeat, just the smooth metallic surface of the pod. Steve choked and ran his foot over the surface. Tony was gone.

Well, he wouldn't be leaving his body here to be scavenged by the fire ants when they came back, that was for sure. Steve lifted the heavy pod and vibrated his wings as fast as he could, barrelling away from the nest, The pod weighed him down badly, made it hard to fly, but he couldn't leave Tony there. Even if Tony had no family, he deserved to be brought home to find his final resting place. His friends deserved to have the chance to say goodbye.

The sun was dipping low, shadows stretching across the forest floor, and Steve's wings started to ache with the weight of carrying both of them. He finally had to give in to the pull of gravity, stumbling down to land on a high-up branch. He pushed Tony's body up into a crease in the tree bark and huddled next to it. The setting sun gave way to a cold wind that whipped around them, and Steve tucked his face in beside Tony's pod, holding back a stinging that threatened the back of his eyes. 

He'd never spent a night outside the hive before, except for his initiation night with the unit. And that hadn't been scary or loney. He'd been surrounded by his friends, bundled in the leaf litter, telling scary stories and buzzing with excitement for starting work as a full harvesting unit the next day. 

But now he was alone, and Tony was gone; Steve had missed his chance to tell him how he felt. It all seemed so stupid now - worrying about what was between them instead of what they shared. "I should have told you I'm in love with you," Steve whispered against the smooth, shiny surface of the pod. "I'm sorry." It glinted in the moonlight but didn't reply.

The wind turned bitter, and Steve shook as he tucked in as closely as he could. There was no way he could fly in this wind, even if he could find his way in the dark, which he was sure he couldn't. And besides, he'd never leave Tony behind. 

He was going to be stuck here all night.

**

_ Go!  _ Tony's mind told him  _ Go OUT! _

He tried to fight the urge, wanting to slip back into easy darkness, but that drive, that instinct wouldn't quiet. 

_ GO!  _

Tony started squirming - away from the persistent urging in his gut. His way was blocked but he tipped his head back and chewed, making a seam then pushing against it until it gave way. Light flooded everything, and he shook and wriggled and shoved until his head was free. 

He wasn't dead. 

He was alive.

Everything looked  _ different  _ and -

"Steve?"

The bee's head shot up from where it had been shoved against the tree bark, and his eyes went wide. "Tony?!" His mouth fell open. "You're  _ alive?"  _

"Am I?" Tony groaned. "I don't feel like I am."

"Oh wow."

That itch to move drove Tony forward again, and he wiggled and squirmed, writhing towards the opening in the pod that trapped him. He tried to move his legs but they felt funny. Everything was weird and dizzy and wrong, but he was alive and Steve was here. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to rescue you." Steve shrugged. "You'd sort of already rescued yourself. I guess."

"I had an explosive with me when the ants took me. I set it to go off and then I had this driving need to… do whatever I did." Tony winced. "Why would you want to rescue me? I'm nothing. You shouldn't have put yourself in danger. Your hive needs you."

"Oh Tony, I'm so sorry," Steve said, taking off and buzzing around the tree in stressed out circled. "I should have told you a long time ago. I can't believe you'd think that. You're not nothing." He landed near Tony's head and gazed at him. "You're everything to me. I love you."

Tony couldn't move or speak for a moment, frozen in time with those three words. Steve loved him? How was that possible? "You - really?" he finally managed to ask.

"Yes. Very much so. And for a long time. I know you probably want nothing to do with a boring old worker bee, but if you'll let me take you to Sunset Ridge sometime… well… I'd really like that."

"I… I would love that," Tony choked out. He was struck with another urge to move, to stretch and be free, and he pressed forward. "Hold on, I'm coming out. Just - I -  _ ugh -"  _

Tony finally squirmed free and flopped onto the tree branch, breath coming in heavy pants. Wow. Why was he so… tilty?

"Oh. My. God." 

Tony looked at Steve, but Steve wasn't looking at Tony, he was looking somewhere over Tony's shoulders, eyes wide with shock. "... What?" 

And then Tony  _ flapped.  _

"Ah! What was that?!"

Steve gasped. "Tony you have  _ wings!!  _ Oh wow! They're incredible! How did you do that?"

"I don't know!" Tony flapped again and it felt  _ right.  _ Something itchy and unpleasant loosened on his back and the wind wafted gently over his wings, making them flutter. 

"You're  _ magic,"  _ Steve breathed. "You grew wings. And they're so beautiful."

"Are they?" Tony turned, trying to see over his shoulder, but he couldn't. His eyes were still sort of fuzzy and he was tired and sore and dizzy. "What do they look like?"

**

Steve gazed at Tony's new body, unable to form words. His huge wings sprung up behind him, glistening and bright in the new day's sun. A pattern of dark lines broke up sections of deep red, shiny gold, and soft grey. But most stunning of all were the two, huge round eyes, one on each lower wing, blue so vibrant they almost glowed, ringed with grey. They looked like centres of immense power, and Steve was stunned into silence by their beauty. 

"What do they look like?" Tony repeated, bending this way and that to try and look at his own wings. 

"... Incredible," Steve whispered, throat clogging with feeling. He opened his mouth again, to try and tell Tony that it was okay, he didn't have to go to Sunset Ridge with him. If Tony had been out of his league before, with his brilliance and his amazing friends and his wonderful inventions, he sure was now, sporting the most beautiful and powerful wings Steve had ever seen. But before Steve could speak, the air filled with a weighty thrum, a humming deep and low, that shook the leaves and branches of their tree.

"Hydra!" Tony reared back on his branch, nearly losing his balance. "Steve! Those are Hydra wasps!"

All of Steve's training kicked into high gear. He sprung off the branch and powered up into the leaf canopy, closing his eyes and using his other senses to find the angle of the heavy hum. "They're heading for the hive!" He shouted. There was no other reason for the gang of wasps to be going the way they were. Steve's family was in danger.

"Well, let's go then." Tony appeared at his side, flapping his beautiful new wings in a mesmerizing flutter as he steadied out beside Steve.

"You okay to fly?"

Tony nodded. "Yup. I've got this."

"Then let's go!"

**

Tony was  _ flying.  _

It was all he'd wanted for so long, and now he was really doing it. He flapped along, keeping up with Steve as he buzzed his way unerringly towards the hive. As scared as he was of the wasps, the feeling was incredible. The wind brushed over his wings, and Tony extended them as far as they could go, feeling a full, deep stretch for what felt like the first time in his life. He'd just been waiting, all this time, to be who he really was.

They rounded the last tree, and Tony saw the beehive. It was humming and buzzing with activity, the bee units all working together to try and prevent the wasps from getting any closer. But the Hydra wasps were enraged and aggressive and they weren't backing down. 

"I'll get my stuff!" Tony shouted as Steve peeled off towards the hive to join his family.

Tony fluttered down to his treehouse and ducked inside. Everything looked different now, in his new form, and he blinked at his home for a moment before he remembered he had a job to do. Tony dug through his inventions, but nothing was quite right. Most of what he had was designed for the spiders or for his caterpillar feet to operate, not his new, long legs, and not in the air. He huffed in frustration and grabbed the last of the web nets. 

It only took a few flaps to shoot through the trees and join the fray. Tony stayed back and prepared the net, then fired. It flew true, and Tony momentarily celebrated, but when it popped open, it only caught two wasps in its flare, dragging them down to the forest floor as it fell. It left the rest of the wasps attacking the hive, and Tony without any more defenses.

He stared, helpless, as the bees fought fruitlessly. They were going to lose. Tony didn't know what to do. He watched as Steve reared back and charged, but a wasp turned sharply and caught Steve in the side, knocking him out of the air. He tumbled down towards the ground. 

"No!" Tony shot forward, ignoring the dangerous wasps that swarmed around him. He wrapped his long limbs around Steve and tucked him close to his body, then he flapped up towards the hive. The Hydra wasps turned towards him and dove, and Tony flinched away, turning his body between Steve and the oncoming attack. He flared his wings on pure instinct.

A loud cry sounded behind him, and Tony hugged Steve closer, stretching his wings as wide as possible to shield the two of them. A moment later, all was silent. Tony uncurled slowly, opening one eye, then the other, peering around him. He was surrounded by silent, watching bees. The wasps were gone.

Steve stirred in Tony's arms, and he fluttered over to a nearby branch to lay him down. Steve rose and shook himself off. It wasn't long before Steve's entire unit swarmed the branch. Tony turned to go, but Steve's friend Sam stopped him. "That was amazing. Who -" Sam scented him. "Tony?!"

"Uh, yeah. I… grew wings."

"No kidding!" Bucky came up on his other side and bumped his fist against Tony's. "That was incredible. Your spots scared the wasps right off. You looked like some wild, angry bird with glowing eyes. I've never seen Hydra fly so fast!"

"Oh." Tony stared at them. "I didn't know I could do that."

"You saved my life," Steve said quietly, and Tony turned to look at him, heart thumping.

The other bees quietly disappeared, satisfied their unit-mate was okay, taking to the sky to inspect the damaged hive. "Are you okay?" Tony asked, stepping closer, but afraid to touch.

"I'm fine. Thanks to you. I - I don't even know what to say, Tony. I always knew you were amazing, but you saved my family, my home."

Tony rubbed his feet together nervously. "So. Um. That thing you were saying before… about Sunset Ridge…"

"Would you?" Steve asked, hope twisting his voice up. "Go with me? Really?"

"Don't you want to take another bee?" Tony asked. "I'm not like you."

"I've never wanted anyone but you," Steve said firmly. "I'm so in love with you."

"I love you too," Tony admitted. "I'd love to go." Tony reached out tentatively for Steve's hand, but Steve buzzed his wings to life, launching himself into Tony's hold. They snuggled together, bruised, but both smiling wider than they ever had before. Tony nuzzled his face into Steve's soft, yellow fuzz, his heart full. He had wings, he had the sky, and he finally knew who he was supposed to be. 

But more than all of that, he had love.

**Author's Note:**

> [This is my poor rendition of what Tony's wings look like](http://festiveferret.tumblr.com/post/176506621630/well-i-cant-art-at-all-but-i-wanted-to-do-a)
> 
> [And this is what his cocoon looks like](https://images.earthtouchnews.com/media/1947834/butterfly-pge-2017-1-18.jpg)
> 
> If you're not too confused to function, you can check me out on tumbly at festiveferret.tumblr.com <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Wish Granted](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17416535) by [One and Five Nines (Obani)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obani/pseuds/One%20and%20Five%20Nines)




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